‘Despite heightened focus on fitness for purpose clauses following the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in MT Hojgaard A/S v E.ON Climate and Renewables UK Robin Rigg East Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 407 (“Robin Rigg”), such clauses are not new and have been used in construction contracts for a number of years.’

‘In what has been billed as the biggest crackdown on trade union rights for 30 years, the Conservative government have published a draft Trade Union Bill along with three separate consultation documents on ballot thresholds in important public services, hiring agency staff during industrial action and tackling intimidation of non-striking workers.’

‘Certain hotels are sited in city centres or close to the main road networks. They are easily accessible and some are vulnerable to misuse by those engaged in crime. Bookings can be made late at night; guests might arrive in large groups; they are sometimes able to bypass reception either on arrival or on departure; there may be no night receptionist to check who might be brought in. It is not unknown for particular hotels in particular areas to be used for the exploitation of vulnerable persons. It may be argued that certain hoteliers are on notice of a possible problem relating to the exploitation of young people within the network. The question is what is to be done to protect young people who might be taken to an hotel and there abused and to limit the exposure of the hotelier to liability for any claim which might be made against them. Some hoteliers actively seek the assistance of bodies such as the NSPCC in the preparation of training for staff. Training is not enough. Nor is the fact that guest accompanying a child may be obliged to identify the child and their relationship with the child.’

‘It is hard to escape the notion that the rise in the number of secondary victim claims in recent years owes its success to the amorphous concept of ‘proximity’. The test of proximity itself is well established: a secondary victim claimant can only establish a claim in law as a result of witnessing an event or its immediate aftermath. Establishing proximity does not pose much of a problem if the claimant has witnessed an accident itself; what remains controversial is defining the limit of “the event” and its “immediate aftermath”. Having looked at the decisions of the Courts on this issue, one would be forgiven for thinking that the boundaries are imposed somewhat arbitrarily. ‘

‘It had been 10 years since a secondary victim claim had reached the Court of Appeal when the important Taylor v A.Novo(UK) Ltd. [2014] QB 150 case was decided, in March 2013. By contrast, the last six months have seen a series of key decisions illustrating the approach first-instance Courts will take in the light of Taylor, namely Wild v Southend NHS; Brock v Northampton NHS; Berisha v Stone Superstore; Shorter v Surrey & Sussex NHS and culminating in another landmark Appeal decision in Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Ronayne [2015] EWCA Civ 588.’Full story

‘Stuart Clark, Associate Solicitor with The International Family Law Group LLP considers the implications of increased use of s.37 MCA 1973 in setting aside payments on account of costs in financial remedies cases.’

‘They deserve to be put away’; ‘Appeal the sentence – too short’; ‘They should lock him up and throw away the key’. How civilised has it ever been to imprison other humans – or to want to do it? How many prisoners had their fates determined by circumstance, how many by truly free will? How often has increasing in prison building been used to increase a politician’s vote? How impossible would it be for most politicians to argue for fewer prisons because they do not work, when as a society we have to assume they do?

‘FOCUS: Businesses that experience data security breaches can use the law of legal privilege to investigate the circumstances of those breaches without fear that internal investigation documents will be used against them by regulators or litigants.’

‘A growing number of countries have so-called memory laws, ranging from the criminalisation of Holocaust denial, to prescriptions for the teaching of certain subjects, memorial days and public monuments. Which, if any, of these are justified? Which are more effective in combating evils they are supposed to combat, based on misinterpretations of the past?’

‘Solicitors have urged the government to review, as a matter of urgency, the provision of appropriate adults (AA) for mentally vulnerable detainees in police stations after a report published today highlighted ‘significant shortcomings’.’

‘A multi-agency anti-fraud operation led by City of London Police is beginning to show results, with “dozens of people arrested” and two providers of serviced office space fined in relation to investment frauds based out of addresses in the financial district, according to press reports.’Full story

‘Sir John Chilcot mounted a robust defence of his embattled Iraq war inquiry, prompting families of those who lost relatives in the conflict to make a renewed threat of legal action to accelerate its publication.’

‘Pity the poor country coppers – if you thought they had enough on their plates with red diesel, dogging and bored teenagers necking horse tranquillisers, now they’re having to get to grips with sheep markings designed by the Vikings.’

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